CC BY
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Фауна Урала и Сибири ■ 2019 ■ № 1 ■ 156-162
УДК 598.2-19.084(571.121) DOI 10.24411/2411-0051-2019-10116
Орнитологическое обследование центральной части бассейна реки Юрибей (Гыданский полуостров, Ямало-Ненецкий автономный округ)
A. E. Скопин
КЗ Скопин Алексей Евгеньевич, ВНИИ охотничьего хозяйства и звероводства 13- им- Б. М. Житкова, ул. Преображенская, 79, г. Киров, 610000; scopin@bk.ru
Поступила в редакцию 7 ноября 2018 г.
В орнитологическом отношении Гыданский п-ов — одна из наименее изученных территорий севера Сибири. Особенно недостаточно фаунистических материалов по центральной части полуострова. Гыданский п-ов представляет собой холмистую тундру с множеством больших мелководных озер. В период паводка большая часть территории затапливается. Зональная растительность представлена сообществами типичной тундры: ивняково-мелкоерниковыми, ивняко-во-моховыми и травяно-кустарничково-моховыми. Видовой состав и плотность птиц изучали в центральной части бассейна р. Юрибей 3-7 августа 2018 г. Птиц регистрировали на маршрутах и с помощью отлова сетями в пойме реки и притоков, всего отмечено 29 видов. Приведены данные по плотности и результаты сравнительного анализа видового состава воробьиных птиц в разных местообитаниях. Показатели плотностей отмеченных птиц отличаются от имеющихся в литературе данных. Подтверждено гнездование гаги-гребенушки Somateria spectabilis в центральной части полуострова. Отмечена низкая численность водоплавающих и хищных птиц, а также белой куропатки. Низкая численность хищных птиц связана с низкой численностью грызунов в текущем году. Численность многих видов птиц варьирует в зависимости от типа местообитания. В частности, плотность галстучника Charadrius hiaticula в пределах береговой полосы озер без выраженных пляжей составляет 5.9 ос/км2, а на озерах с широкими песчаными пляжами может локально повышаться до 235 ос/км2. Обилие воробьиных птиц в пойменных ивовых зарослях различно в зависимости от высоты зарослей. Так, плотность чечёток Acanthis flammea выше в высоких зарослях ив. Наличие увеличенных гонад у чечеток подтверждает мнение о двух циклах размножении этого вида в течение короткого северного лета. На примере пойменных ивовых зарослей проведено сравнение учетных данных, полученных посредством визуальных наблюдений на маршрутах и отловом сетями. Отлов избирателен по отношению к разным видам. Отмечено явное избегание попадания в сети трясогузок Motacilla alba и M. citreola. С другой стороны, доля пеночки-веснич-ки Phylloscopus trochilus в отловах составляет половину населения воробьиных птиц, тогда как на маршрутном учете — лишь около 10%.
Ключевые слова: фауна птиц, учеты, отлов.
© Скопин A. E., 2019
OTM^I ■ A. E. CKonuH
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An ornithological survey in the central part of the River Yuribey basin (the Gydan Peninsula, the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district)
A. E. Scopin
E3 Aleksey E. Scopin, Russian Research Institute of Game Management and Fur Farming, 79, 12- Preobrazhenskaya st., Kirov, Russia, 610000; scopin@bk.ru
We carried out an ornithological survey in the central part of the River Yuribey basin (the Gydan Peninsula) and recorded 29 bird species. Data on the density of birds in the study area are given. A comparative analysis of the composition of passerines was made by means of visual observation (the transect method) and net catching in different habitats.
Key words: avifauna, bird accounting, bird catching.
The Gydan Peninsula is one of the least studied areas of the Russian North in terms of animal diversity. The first major ornithological study of the peninsula and the River Yuribey basin was conducted by S. P. Nau-mov (1931). However, most of the performed study of the peninsula avifauna was concentrated on the ecosystems of the Kara Sea shores. The central Gydan Peninsula area has been hardly studied, and the available information on the status and species numbers of the bird population is fragmentary (Cher-nichko et al., 1994; Zhukov, 1995; Tsvet-kov, 1997; Kalyakin et al., 2002; Glazov, Dmitriev, 2004; Dmitriev, Emelchenko, 2007; Dmitriev, Zhukov, 2011; Emtsev, 2018). Our aim was to conduct specific studies to determine the species composition and bird density in the River Yuribey basin.
The Gydan Peninsula landscape is heterogeneous and is represented by hilly tundra with wide river valleys and numerous large but shallow thermokarst lakes. The vegetation of the territory is typical for tundra with dominating shrub vegetation and no trees (Walker et al., 2002). The shrub vegetation is represented by dwarf birch and various willow species up to 1.5 m high. The highest willows grow in river floodplains, where they often form continuous thickets. In the floodplain of the River Yuribey, continuous willow thicket strips can
exceed 1 km. During the flood season (May-June), most of the River Yuribey basin is inundated making a single lake-and-river network interspersed with islands formed by small hills. The height of hills on the Gydan Peninsula does not exceed 160 m. In our study area, the hill height was 30 m and less. The zonal vegetation within the watershed area is represented by willow-dwarf birch-moss tundra, willow-moss tundra, grass-short shrub-moss tundra. Vast areas along lakeshores and rivers and on sedge-and-moss bogs are occupied by willow thickets.
METHODS
We conducted an ornithological field survey in the central part of the River Yuribey basin (the floodplain of the river, its tributaries and the watershed) on 3-7 August 2018. Birds were accounted by the accepted methods of linear animal accounting on routes (Ravkin, Chelintsev, 1990; Ravkin, Livanov, 2008). We laid 76 km of routes through all the main habitats and detected birds visually. Also, we used nets to trap birds and identify the species. Two stationary bird trapping sites were chosen (70°25'N, 75°52'E; 70°24'N, 76°06'E). Nets were installed in willow thickets and in an ecotone between the outer riverbank and shrubs. Bird density
© Scopin A. E., 2019
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was calculated based on the occurrence of individuals on the routes (by line transect sampling) and only for the species abundant and common for the given habitat rather than by the occurrence of single individuals.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The avifauna of the central Gydan Peninsula is a complex of arctic species confined to typical tundra habitats (Ravkin et al., 2001, 2008). During our field survey, we recorded only 29 bird species out of the 76 species that could have been found in the territory (Ryabitsev, Ryabitsev, 2010; Ryabitsev, 2014) (see Table 1).
The obtained data is difficult to correlate with the few existing scientific publications on the topic. On one hand, the density of bird species in the River Yuribey basin is significantly lower than that on the coast of the Kara Sea in the northeast of the peninsula (Table 1). On the other hand, the occurrence and the density of many bird species turned out to be higher than previously indicated for this territory by A. V. Tsvet-kov (1997). However, it should be noted that the 1997 Tsvetkov's publication did not provide precise quantitative data on the density of birds. For instance, while A. V. Tsvet-kov (1997) reported single findings of Common Scoter Melanitta nigra, our observations suggest that Common Scoter is a common nesting species. In addition, we repeatedly found flocks of female Common Scoters (up to 16 individuals) in the surveyed area.
Of particular significance is a finding of female King Eiders Somateria spectabi-lis with chicks. King Eider is considered to be a nomadic species on the Gydan Peninsula and is mostly found near the coast (Dmitriev, Emelchenko, 2007). King Eider generally prefers coastal salt marshes and occurs in the lower reaches of the River Yuribey (Glazov, Dmi-triev, 2004), but some individuals can be also found in the centre of the peninsula (Tsvet-kov, 1997). A similar pattern is observed on the neighbouring Yamal Peninsula, where this species moves far inward from the coast during the nesting period (Zhitkov, 1913). Several authors doubted the nesting of King Eider in the central part of the Gydan Peninsula (Chernichko et al., 1994). In our study,
the breeding of King Eider was recorded 70 km from the Ob Bay coast and 90 km from the Gydan Bay coast of the Kara Sea.
According to A. V. Tsvetkov (1997), Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula inhabiting large lakes is considered to be a rare bird in the study area. While it is true that Ringed Plover is found mostly on lakeshores that are apparently richer in food supply than river sandbanks, this species is not rare. The birds' density depends on the availability and the area of shallow sand deposits on inner lakeshores. On the average, we found 5.9 in./km2 (recalculated for 1 km2) of Ringed Plover near lakes without distinguished shallow sand bank deposits in contrast to wide and warm shallow inner banks of several large lakes where the density of these birds reached 235 in./km2. Among sandpipers, the most common species are Little Stint Calidris minuta which also prefers lake shores, and Temminck's Stint C. temminckii most often found along rivers (see Table 2).
We should also emphasize the extremely low number of Willow Ptarmigan Lagopus lagopus both in terms of the frequency of visual encounters and extremely rare findings of their feces. The reasons for such a low number are not clear because the areas of various shrub plant communities are quite large. It might be due to the significant annual fluctuations in the number of different bird species, which is typical for this region (Dmitriev, Zhukov, 2011). The low number of terrestrial vertebrates results in the fact that there are practically no birds of prey with the exception of Rough-legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus. The low number of avian predators largely arises from the low number of rodents due to the high spring waters that had flooded most of the study area previously this year (We found colonies of lemmings only on hilltops. As a result of monitoring by ditches and life traps, we found out that all former colonies of voles and lemmings of the floodplain complex were uninhabited.), e.g. the lack of lemmings might have caused a low number of skuas.
Due to the relative homogeneity of the vegetation cover, we considered it impractical to calculate the density of large bird species for different habitats and thus performed this calculation only for passerines (see Table 2). We refute A. V. Tsvetkov's data (1997) that suggest rare Wagtails
Table 1. Bird species recorded in the River Yuribey basin and their average density for the surveyed area (in./km2)
Таблица 1. Список зарегистрированных в бассейне р. Юрибей видов птиц и их средняя плотность на обследованной территории (ос/км2)
Average density
Species Central part of the Gydan Peninsula, the River Yuribey basin, early august 2018, own data Northeast of the Gydan Peninsula River Yuribey valley3
Gavia arctica 3.20 4.8—15.92 -
Cygnus bewickii 0.03 single1 -
Aythya marila 0.64 - -
Clangula hyemalis 1.20 5.6—21.82 -
Somateria spectabilis single - -
Melanitta nigra 1.80 - -
Mergus serrator 0.80 - -
Buteo lagopus 1.10 0.6-1.02 1.0
Falco peregrinus single - -
Lagopus lagopus 0.48 4.5—36.42 -
Pluvialis fulva single 0.3—24.82 -
Charadrius hiaticula 7.80 - -
Tringa glareola 1.35 - -
Phalaropus lobatus 4.30 33.3—71.12 1.5-1.9
Calidris alpina 1.60 2.8—75.02 6.0
C. minuta 9.60 19.0-96.01 12.5—125.02 1.2-2.5
C. temminckii 2.70 8.0—20.01 -
Stercorarius parasiticus 0.32 3.3—18.72 -
Larus heuglini 0.50 2.2-9.91 -
Anthus cervinus 4.00 23.0—54.01 5.0—20.22 26.0
Motacilla citreola 5.10 7.82 -
M. alba 15.9 3.8—21.82 -
Acrocephalus schoenobaenus 2.80 - -
Phylloscopus trochilus 8.00 - -
Luscinia svecica 0.53 9.9—44.22 10.1—65.42 -
Turdus iliacus 1.60 - -
Acanthis flammea 45.40 10.0—44.02 -
Ocyris pusillus 12.90 - -
Calcarius lapponicus 15.60 10.0-60.01 14.1- 93.62 25.8
1 July 2006 (Dmitriev, Emelchenko, 2007)
2 July 1989 (Chernichko et al., 1994)
3 June-July 2002 (Glazov, Dmitriev, 2004)
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Table 2. Bird density in various habitats in the River Yuribey basin (in./km2)
Таблица 2. Плотность птиц в различных местообитаниях бассейна р. Юрибей (ос/км2)
Species
Willow-dwarf birch-lichen-moss tundra
Willow- Grass-
moss short
tundra on shrub-
the water- moss
sheds tundra
Willow thickets on bogs
and sedge-moss bogs
Floodplain willow thickets up to 1 m high located along river-banks
Floodplain willow thickets Shores
1.2—1.5 m high Riverbanks of tundra located along lakes
riverbanks
Charadrius hiaticula Tringa glareola Phalaropus lobatus Calidris minuta C. temminckii Anthus cervinus Motacilla citreola M. alba Phylloscopus trochilus Turdus iliacus Acanthis flammea Ocyris pusillus Calcarius lapponicus
7.6 11.3
114.8
53.0
77.6
23.5
25.2
7.1 12.6
2.9
14.6
11.7
11.7 43.9
25.6
12.5
25.1
66.6 3.9
75.2 25.0
8.8
7.9 11.8
19.7
29.0
23.5 2.4
9.4
11.8 2.6
20.6 7.8
and Common Redpoll Acanthis flammea. During our survey, these species were present in quite significant numbers, which confirms the relative stability of their populations in the territory. The highest density was recorded in Common Redpoll, which is attributed to the seasonal relocations of this species. Flocks of 6-10 individuals were most common. An autopsy of some individuals of Common Redpoll revealed enlarged gonads, which indicated secondary reproductive activity of the species in the season, and that correspondingly affected the density of their population. As for the diversity of passerines, the dominant group in the area includes Common Redpoll, Lapland Longspur Calcarius lapponicus, White Wag-
tail Motacilla alba and Little Bunting
Ocyris pusillus (see Table 3).
The density of passerine species in the floodplain willow thickets differed greatly depending on the height of the thickets (see Table 2). However, in many ways this was not always related to the preference of these habitats by a certain bird species, but rather showed a high degree of bird undercounting in habitats with high and dense vegetation. It is known that for many species leading a secretive lifestyle in floodplain thickets, visual accounting implies a large amount of mistakes. According to our visual observations, the density of Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus and Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinus is lower in willow thickets up to
Table 3. Ratio of passerine species in the River Yuribey basin (%) Таблица 3. Соотношение видов воробьиных бассейна р. Юрибей (%)
Floodplain willow thickets Total within the studied
Species According to visual According to net area according to visual
accounting catching accounting
Acanthis flammea 26.5 17.2 35.0
Calcarius lapponicus 2.0 0 18.4
Ocyris pusillus 15.3 10.3 14.9
Motacilla alba 23.5 0 12.4
Phylloscopus trochilus 1.2 55.2 7.7
Anthus cervinus 9.2 7.0 5.1
Motacilla citreola 7.1 0 3.9
Acrocephalus schoenobaenus 3.1 0 1.3
Turdus iliacus 2.1 0 0.9
Luscinia svecica 1.0 1.3 0.4
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
1.5 m high than in the same type of thickets with the height up to 1.0 m. On the contrary, the number of Common Redpoll is higher in high willow thickets where there is enough food to provide large flocks. The fact that Common Redpolls prefer to live in the thick of willow bushes makes it easier to register them visually.
In order to estimate the real ratio of species in floodplain willow thickets, we applied the net trapping method. The results of this method show what birds can be completely overlooked during visual observation, the number of species that are significantly underestimated, and what bird species require additional clarification in estimating their numbers. The results of bird trapping are presented in Table 3. It is worth noting that a high percentage of Bluethroat Luscinia svecica and Willow Warbler were captured by nets. Those birds were trapped several times more often than observed during visual accounting. Willow Warbler turned out to be the dominant species among passerines in the River Yuribey floodplain complex.
However, the real number of captured birds can be unreliable. The main drawback of the net trapping method is related to the selectivity of catching for different species. For instance, the absence of Redwing Tur-dus iliacus and Sedge Warbler Acroceph-
alus schoenobaenus is associated with their low abundance and, consequently, the low probability of trapping. Our inability to capture Wagtails is clearly associated with the poor efficiency of the net trapping method for this species despite the fact that Wagtails are common in the given habitat. Wagtails have obvious ethological features that allow them to avoid this equipment.
CONCLUSION
The results of the research allowed us to obtain primary data about the species composition and the density of birds in the River Yuribey basin. The importance of this study is related to the fact that this area has not been affected by human activity yet. The emergence of anthropogenic landscape in typical tundra, as well as the recent climate change, leads to a northward penetration of taiga species and is followed by substantial changes in the composition of the bird fauna (Paskhalniy, 2004; Golovatin, 2011). Our results and materials can be used for further environmental monitoring. Future studies and a refinement of the data on the distribution and number of birds, especially of large and rare species, would provide an objective view on the nature of the animal diversity of this sparsely populated region in northern Siberia.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am especially grateful to Vladimir Sot-nikov (the Kirov Zoological Museum) for an active discussion of the field materials. I
would also like to thank Maria Kushkova and Lanita Gutieva for their help in translating the manuscript into English.
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